In July 1993, Greg Manning Auctions, Inc. offered a spectacular item in their auction: the original Ted Williams Hall of Fame plaque!
They offered it without a reserve and described it as follows:
This sensational piece of baseball history features one of the greatest players ever to play the game, and the last player ever to have a .400 season. The highest honor any ballplayer can achieve is to be memorialized in bronze at Cooperstown. This is the original plaque presented to Ted Williams on the day he was enshrined at Cooperstown, July 25, 1966.A news photo of Williams accepting this plaque, as well as letters pertaining to its history and authenticity accompany the lot. The heavy bronze plaque measures approx 11 1/2 by 16 inches. A truly once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the most important pieces of sports memorabilia extant.
The estimated sales price was $75k-125k.
SABR included a bit more detail about why this was the “original” plaque in a piece they published called Hall of Fame Plaque Variations in January 2020.
It appears that Teddy Ballgame’s plaque has been changed at least twice. The original plaque that was displayed at his 1966 induction ceremony was subsequently replaced by a plaque bearing a slightly different likeness (on the left in the photo below). That replacement plaque was itself later replaced by a new plaque (on the right) with a drastically different likeness. As to why the changes were made, I note the following from Thomas Boswell in The Washington Post on August 9, 1977: ‘Ted Williams was so incensed by his nonlikeness that he demanded a new plaque.’
A picture of Williams posing (at his 1966 induction ceremony) with his original plaque can be seen accompanyingan article on the Hall’s website.
Author’s question: Was a Hall of Fame postcard produced depicting the original 1966 Ted Williams plaque?
The differences between the original and the plaques depicted on the two postcards are pretty clear.
Happy collecting!
